Incubation is a temporary break from creative problem solving that can result in insight. There has been some empirical research looking at whether, as the concept of «incubation» in Wallas’ model implies, a period of interruption or rest from a problem may aid creative problem-solving.

Ward[30] lists various hypotheses that have been advanced to explain why incubation may aid creative problem-solving, and notes how some empirical evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that incubation aids creative problem-solving in that it enables «forgetting» of misleading clues. Absence of incubation may lead the problem solver to become fixated on inappropriate strategies of solving the problem.[31] This work disputes the earlier hypothesis that creative solutions to problems arise mysteriously from the unconscious mind while the conscious mind is occupied on other tasks.

The range of scholarly interest in creativity includes a multitude of definitions and approaches involving several disciplines; psychology, cognitive science, education, philosophy (particularly philosophy of science), technology, theology, sociology, linguistics, business studies, and economics, taking in the relationship between creativity and general intelligence, mental and neurological processes associated with creativity, the relationships between personality type and creative ability and between creativity and mental health, the potential for fostering creativity through education and training, especially as augmented by technology, and the application of creative resources to improve the effectiveness of learning and teaching processes.